History of womens literature : an unfinished project

The text poses some questions concerning the future of the feminist history of literature in the context of contemporary transformations in the field of "academic knowledge production", as well as the rhetoric and politics of the women’s movement. Moreover, it draws attention to the emancipatory character of the early feminist literary projects relating to the recovery of women’s past and also problematizes the present-day notion of women's "sister community". The analysis of family metaphors often used in discussions concerning "mother heritage" in the 70s, points to differences between second- and third-wave understanding of the category of "belonging somewhere". Looking at those arguable places in feminist criticism (e.g. Showalter, Gubar, Gilbert and Moi) allows one to notice changes in the way feminist scholars perceive the literary past. Finding a new critical language to describe the pluralistic and multidimensional nature of women's literary tradition seems to constitute the biggest challenge to contemporary feminist studies.